One Short Night
by Higgles123
Summary: Just a little one shot of how George Luz met the love of his life after the war


_6__th__ June, 1946- New York City_

The club was alive. The swing band was playing, the drinks were flowing. Everyone was happy and full of life. It was a far cry from how they had spent this day exactly two years ago. Nearly all of Easy had turned up for the reunion, even the CO's. Many of the men had brought their wives while others still basked in the freedom of being young, free and single.

From his position at the table near the edge of the dancefloor, George was afforded the perfect view of the room. Heffron was twirling some girl about, showing off exactly why he had won numerous competitions back home in Philadelphia. Next to them, Doc Roe's wife had dragged him out onto the shiny wooden floor and was trying to persuade him to do more than just shuffle his feet in time to the music. Finally, Doc relented and picked his wife up by the waist, spinning her around and around as she threw back her head and laughed. George grinned. This wasn't the quiet man they had all gotten used to during the war. But the British woman he'd married in secret back in Aldbourne had definitely brought him out of his shell. As he watched the coloured sea of bodies packed together like sardines in a jar, there was one that caught his eye.

"You gonna just stare at her all night or you gonna actually go and talk to her at some point?" Joe Toye rasped from beside him.

"Dunno what you're talking about," George shrugged casually, downing the last of his beer.

"Oh come George," Toye grinned. "You can't take your eyes off that waitress. And don't tell me that it's what's on her tray and not what's under her dress that's got you so interested."

"No one would blame you," Guarnere piped up from across the table. "She's a good lookin' broad."

Bill grinned sheepishly as his very pregnant wife, Frannie, swatted his arm and glared.

"Not as beautiful as you my angel," he winked. Frannie just eyed him drolly.

"Who's a good looking broad?" Perconte sat down with a thump.

"George fancies the waitress over there," Toye pointed at the girl in the navy blue dress with long auburn hair.

"Christ Joe, put your fucking hand down," George hissed, grabbing Toye's arm. "Oh great, look what you've fucking done now."

The girl was walking towards them. She must have thought that Toye had been waving her over. She stopped right in front of them and smiled, a notepad and pencil in her hands.

"What can I get you guys?"

"You got anything to drink?" George blurted out.

"Uh yeah," the girl nodded.

"Oh good," George laughed nervously. "I, uh, wasn't sure you would have."

"Well this is a bar," she eyed him strangely. "And usually when people come to a bar they want a drink."

"Unless they've come in the hopes of finding something else," he wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"We'll have a round of beers and a gin for the lady," Guarnere stepped in, frowning at George.

"Sure, I'll bring them right over," the girl said, hurrying away from them as fast as she could without even a glance back at them.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Perconte shook his head.

"I don't know," George groaned, putting his head in his hands.

"You really fucked that one up, George," Toye chortled. "Was pretty funny to watch though."

"Fuck you Joe," George glared at him. He stood up and his chair scraped back along the floor loudly.

"Where you going?"

"To try and salvage the last shred of my dignity," he growled.

"What I'd pay to be a fly on the wall for this," Toye chuckled, taking a sip of his drink and leaning back in his chair.

The girl wasn't difficult to find. She was leant against the bar, waiting for the bartender to make up her order. When she saw George she looked uncomfortable and when he stopped beside her, he swore she actually grimaced.

"Hi," he grinned.

"Hello," she answered, keeping her eyes focused on the bar ahead of her.

"I'm George," he held out a hand.

She just looked at it like it harboured some sort of infectious disease.

"You not gonna tell me your name?" he asked. The girl didn't say a word. "Alrighty then. If you won't tell me, then I'll have to guess. Audrey? Nah, actually you don't look like an Audrey. Evelyn? No? Hmm… this is tough. I'm betting it's something really awful which is why you don't wanna tell me? Am I right? I have a cousin called Judy who hates her name. And why wouldn't she? It's goddamn awful. Now there's no way your name could be as bad as that, so why don't you tell me? What's your name pretty lady?"

"Judy," the girl side eyed him.

"Did I tell you that Judy just happens to be my most favourite name of all time?"

George kind of wished the ground would swallow him up where he stood. _Not to worry, Georgey boy. You're still in with a shot here. _

"You wanna hear a joke?" he asked.

"Not really," she shook her head.

"You'll like it," he urged.

"Alright then," she sighed. She didn't want to be rude, especially because she'd already had some good tips from his table tonight. But she found herself frustrated by the fact that she always attracted the weird ones. And this guy was most definitely weird. Not to mention rude. It was a shame really because he was rather cute. His dark hair was thick and straight, while his almost black eyes were wide like saucers. He also had a cheeky grin that was rather nice to look at.

"Ok, so what did the big chimney say to the little chimney?"

"I don't know," she said disinterestedly.

"You're too young to smoke."

Silence. George cursed himself internally as Judy just eyeballed him.

"What did the banana say to the doctor? I'm not peeling well."

Cue tumbleweed blowing in the wind. _Good God_, George thought to himself in horror. _I've been stripped of my hilarity. _

"Ok, so those jokes weren't great," he conceded, leaning against the bar and lighting up a cigarette. "But I promise I'm usually a pretty funny guy. Just ask any one of my friends and they'll tell you."

"I'm sure you are," she answered politely, smiling her thanks to the bartender as he loaded her tray. "I'm not trying to be rude, but I should take these drinks over to your friends."

"Oh here, let me do that."

"That's alright," she said, ignoring his outstretched hands.

"Honestly, I insist," George grinned, taking hold of the tray and all but snatching it from her. "What kind of man would I be if I didn't help a pretty girl such as yourself?"

With a wink he began sauntering backwards, balancing the tray on one hand. He was so busy showing off his balancing skills that he didn't see Heffron and his partner spinning towards him until it was too late. The tray went flying and the drinks landed on the floor with a loud crash.

George grimaced as Judy shook her head and let out an angry growl. She bent down to begin picking it all up and let out a hiss as a shard of glass cut through her hand and blood started to pour out immediately. She grabbed a napkin from the tray and wrapped it around her hand before continuing to pick up the mess. She batted George's hand away when he tried to help.

"Don't you think you've done enough?" she glowered.

"Sorry," George muttered. "I was only trying to help."

"Well I didn't need your help," she told him, getting to her feet once everything was picked up. "And now because of you, this is coming out of my wages. So thanks very much, buster."

George watched the girl walk off angrily and he felt like a first class idiot. He had only been trying to help. No, that was a lie. He had been trying to impress her. And he had failed spectacularly.

"I think you certainly salvaged the last of your dignity there, Luz," Toye snorted, as George sat back down at their table looking as glum as a dog who had lost its bone.

"Leave him alone, Joe," Frannie patted George's arm sympathetically.

"He's right," George grumbled, slamming his head down on the table. "I couldn't have been even more of an idiot if I had tried. There's no way she's even gonna look twice at me now."

"Ah well," Bill shrugged. "There's plenty more fish in the sea, pal."

"That's easy for you to say," George muttered, wishing the night would just hurry up and be over already.

….

Judy let out a sigh as the cool night air wrapped itself around her. She slipped off her pumps and groaned with relief when her stockinged feet met with the cold concrete. There were still three hours left until the end of her shift and she was already exhausted. After the incident with the drinks smashing all over the floor, her manager had been livid, and as predicted, he had deducted the cost from her wages. Now that she had calmed down, she felt bad for getting so irate with the dark haired guy. George? Was that his name? Of course it was. She hadn't stopped saying it in her head over and over again. Despite the terrible jokes, offending her about her name and making her lose almost two hours' worth of wages, there was something very endearing about him. Just thinking about his impish grin made her stomach flip.

Suddenly the door swung open and her breath was taken aback when the very person she had been thinking about appeared in front of her.

"Sorry, I didn't know anyone was out here," he apologised, turning to go back inside.

"It's alright, I should get back inside anyway," she told him. "My break's almost over."

George just nodded and put his hands in his pocket. Neither of them moved. They just stood in awkward silence, trying not to look at each other.

"Look I'm sorry about-" they both began at the same time, before chuckling softly.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," Judy apologised.

"I'm sorry for acting like such an idiot," George smirked. "I didn't mean to get you in any trouble."

"It's alright," she smiled. George felt his stomach lurch at the sight. She was beautiful.

"Cigarette?" he held out the packet.

Judy nodded and took one. She put the cigarette to her lips and raised an eyebrow as she waited for George to light it for her. He got out his lighter and suddenly he found his hands shaking. Without warning, the zippo fell to the ground. George bent down to pick it up but Judy had already gotten there first. The next thing he realised, her head met with his nose and there was a crunch.

"Are you alright?" she grimaced, her blue eyes wide with horror.

"Oh yeah, I'm good," George answered bravely, even as his eyes began to water and a splatter of blood fell from his nose.

"I'm so sorry," Judy stammered nervously, pulling a napkin out of her apron and thrusting it into George's face. She pulled him to sit on the edge of the sidewalk with her and she held the napkin to his nose until the bleeding stopped. She apologised profusely for near enough the entire time.

"I'd say we're about even now," George said, when the bleeding had eventually subsided. "You cut your hand because of me and now my nose is bleeding because of you."

"I don't think an almost broken nose and a small scratch really compare, do you?" her eyes twinkled with mirth.

"Meh, I won't tell if you won't," George grinned. "How is that life threatening cut anyway?"

Judy chuckled and allowed him to take her hand for inspection. He turned it this way and that, assessing it from each and every angle.

"Hmm, I think you'll survive," he decided. "But just to be sure…"

His dark eyes flicked up momentarily and met her own before he pressed the gentlest of kisses to her wounded hand. It sent tingles through her skin and she opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing, but nothing more than a gasp escaped. She felt George's lips smile against her skin and he used one of his hands to pull her close. When his eyes met with hers once again, it was like a spark of electricity shot through them both. One of his hands slid up her side until it cupped her face, firm yet gentle at the same time. The kiss that followed was anything but gentle. It was domineering and determined. His tongue forced its way into her mouth where it met with her own. Their bodies pressed tightly together, and Judy could feel George's desire pulsating against her hip. Just as quickly as the kiss began it was over, leaving her panting and her lips swollen.

"Judy, you out here?" a voice suddenly shouted, breaking the magical spell woven around the two of them. "Gus is ready to skin you alive if you don't get back in here right now."

"I better go," Judy mumbled. But even as she said it, her feet refused to move.

"Yeah," George smiled. "Wouldn't want Gus to skin you alive. I can't say I fancy taking a skeleton to the movies tomorrow night. Might get some pretty strange looks."

"Judy!" another voice yelled, and this time it was her manager. He did not sound happy.

"Sorry," she shrugged, heading towards the door. "I guess I'll see you then."

"That you will," he winked.

As he watched her walked back into the crowded bar, George smiled to himself. He most definitely hadn't lost his touch after all.


End file.
